Means for mounting book refills



Jan. 19, 1937. I A. BERNASCONI 2,068,443

MEANS FOR MOUNTING BOOK REFILLS Fild Jan. 22, 1956 ATTDRN Patented Jan. 19, 1937 PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR MOUNTING BOOK REFILLS Adolphe Bernasconi, Rosebank, Staten Island, N. Y.

Application January 22, 1936, Serial No. 60,202

Claims.

This invention relates to book binding and more particularly refers to improvements in means for securing a refill onto a cover or binder.

Certain kinds of books, for instance, memo 5 books, diaries, and the like, frequently consist of a binder adapted for permanent use and a number of sheets or a pad constituting the refill detachably connected to said binder so as to be replaceable by a new refill whenever necessary.

An object is to provide a refillable book of a novel and improved design, consisting of a binder and a quantity of sheets, adapted to be removably secured within the covers of said binder.

A further object is to provide a novel, simple and reliable fastening device, adapted for use in connection with binders and removable refills therefor, said device comprising interengaging members secured to the binder and sheets respectively, and adapted to mutually interengage in an endwise direction.

A still further object is to provide, in connection with a plurality of sheets bound together by a spiral wire holder, a binder of a novel and improved design provided with means for inter- 25 engaging the spiral holder by endwise insertion therethrough.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will more fully appear as the descrip tion proceeds and will be set forth and claimed in the accompanying claims.

Various embodiments of my invention are 11- lustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an open binder showing a refill secured onto said binder in a manner embodying my inventive idea;

Fig. 2' is a fragmentary view in perspective of said binder, illustrating the manner of inserting a refill in position or removing it therefrom;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section in an enlarged scalethrough one of the ends of the folding edge of the binder shown in Figs. 1 and 2, illustrating more clearly the manner in which the spiral holder is attachedtothe binder;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective of another binder and refill, illustrating an alternative embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transversal section of the same through line 5-5 ofFig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view in perspective illustrating still another alternative form of fastening device; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary transversal section through line '|-I of Fig. 6;

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, I0 designates a binder and II designates a refill therefor, comprising a number of sheets bound together by a spiral wire holder I2, of known design.

The spiral wire holder constitutes a very desirable means of binding loose sheets together, not only because of its relatively low cost, but also because like ordinary ring bindings it permits full swing of each sheet and makes it possible for the pages to always lie flat.

The spiral holder is inserted through perforations provided in the sheets, its main portion I3 extending beyond the binding edge I4 of the sheets, so that the same can be interengaged by a pin or prong inserted endwise therethrough.

Furthermore, the spiral holder, which is usually made of light spring wire and is in effect a cylindrical coiled spring with a relatively wide pitch, can be easily flexed between its ends, its springiness causing it to return to its normal straight condition as soon as released.

According to my invention the bunch of sheets constituting the refill is flexed along its binding edge so as to decrease the distance between its ends; one of the ends of said binding edge is then caused to interengage or to be interengaged by a fastening member attached to the inside of the folding edge of the binder, and the bunch of sheets is subsequently allowed to extend to its normal fiat condition while the other end of the binding edge is caused to endwise interengage another fastening member attached at the other end of the inner surface of the folding edge of the binder. Therefore, due to its flexibility the spiral holder constitutes an ideal means for carrying the inventive idea into practice.

A simple and effective arrangement to this end is shown in the drawing where the inner surface of the folding edge I5 of the binder is provided at each end with a prong I6, I I, offset from and inwardly extending longitudinally of the folding edge. Each of said prongs is easily insertable Within the outer portion of the spiral holder and has its outer end I8 pivotally connected to the body of the folding edge I5 in any suitable manner, for instance, by means of a pivotal stud I 9.

As shown in Fig. 2, one end of the spiral holder is slipped over prong I1 and the binding edge of the refill together with the spiral holder is then flexed so as to bring the other end of the spiral holder into register with the free end of prong I6, which is inserted within the spiral holder. The bunch of sheets is then released and its natural resiliency will cause it to resume its normal flat condition, in which the prong I6 becomes fully inserted within the spiral holder. The two prongs will then act as retaining means for the spiral holder, which, in its turn, functions as a ring holder for the sheets.

The flexing of the bunch of sheets at its binding edge naturally causes it to lose its straight alignment and this is the reason why at least one of the prongs is pivotally connected to: the folding edge of the binder. The drawing shows the preferred construction where both prongs are pivotally mounted but it is obvious that, if desired, one prong may be fixed while the other may be mounted so as to be capable of angular displacement with respect to: the folding edge of the binder. If the sheets are sufficiently flexible it is even possible to bend their binding edge S-shape and cause the ends thereof to interengage prongs as illustrated, but permanently fixed in a longitudinal direction.

Although in the arrangement just described the natural resiliency of the bunch of sheets is aided by the resiliency of the spiral holder itself in causing the sheets to resume their normal flat condition, for all ordinary purposes the resiliency of the paper is of itself sufiicient to this end.

The carrying into practice of my inventive idea is not, therefore, necessarily exclusively tied up with the use of a spiral holder.

In support of this statement in Figs. 4 and 5 I illustrate another arrangement where the bunch of sheets 20 is provided at each end with a U- shaped holder 2!, 22, having a body portion embracing the sheets and secured thereto by means of rivets or screws 23 passing through the sheets, and having an outwardly extending longitudinal projection such as 24, 25, adapted to receive the corresponding prong 26 or 21, which, like in the previous case, is attached to the inner surface of the folding edge 28 of the binder 29.

In this case also, at least one of the prongs is pivotally connected to the folding edge of the binder, as shown at 30, 3!, and the operation of inserting a refill in position or removing it therefrom is practically identical with that described in connection with the construction of Figs. 1 to 3.

In Figs. 6, '7, I illustrate still another alternative embodiment of my invention, in which the fastening device at each end of the book comprises a channeled member 32, inwardly extending in a longitudinal direction from its corresponding end of the folding edge of the binder to which it can be attached at 33, said channeled member acting as a female member, and a male plate member 34 insertable within said female member provided with rings such as 35, 36, fixed and upwardly extending therefrom, said rings being inserted through corresponding perforations 31 in the sheets and permitting their being turned independently of one another.

The insertion of a refill in position or its removal therefrom is also in this case by flexing the refill in the manner previously explained.

It is to be understood that the means for holding the refill into interengagement with the retaining means provided on the binder may form a permanent part of the refill, remaining with the used refill when the same is filed away or discarded. In other Words, in the arrangement of Figs. 1 to 3, each new refill may already come provided in unitary form with its own spiral holder, while in the arrangements of Figs. 4-5 and Figs. 6-7 the refill may come already provided with its own attaching means 21-22, or 34, respectively. On the other hand, it is within the scope of my invention to make the attaching means detachable from the refills and reusable, if desired.

In arrangements of the type shown in Figs. 4-5, where the fastening means embraces the binding edge of the sheets, the sheets when turned cannot lie flat of their own accord as they can in connection with ring and spiral holders; therefore, in such cases, it may be desirable to provide the sheets with a longitudinal crease close to the binding edge or with a series of perforations, as shown at 38, defining a folding line for the sheets in proximity of their binding edge. The series of perforations should, of course, be used in preference to a crease when the sheets are to be torn off as used.

My invention is susceptible of being carried into practice in ways different from those shown without departing from the inventive idea. The drawing should, therefore, be understood as being intended for illustrative purposes only and not in a limiting sense.

I accordingly reserve the right to carry my invention into practice in all those ways and manners which may enter, fairly, into the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described a binder, a refill therefor comprising a plurality of sheets, a fastening member secured to said binder at each end of the folding edge thereof, and holding means for said sheets, adapted to interengage by endwise movement, with said fastening members, said fastening members inwardly extending towards each other, along the inner surface of the folding edge of said binder, at least one of said fastening members being pivotally attached to said binder.

2. In a device of the class described a binder, a refill therefor comprising a plurality of sheets, a fastening member secured to said binder at each end of the folding edge thereof, and holding means for said sheets, adapted to interengage by endwise movement, with said fastening members, said fastening members each having a prong spaced from and inwardly extending along the inner surface of the folding edge of said binder,

at least one of said fastening members having its outer end pivotally attached to said binder.

3. In a device of the class described, a binder, a refill therefor comprising a plurality of sheets, a fastening member secured to said binder at each end of the folding edge thereof, and holding means for said sheets, adapted to interengage by endwise movement, with said fastening members, said fastening members each having a prong spaced from and inwardly extending along the inner surface of the folding edge of said binder, and having its outer end pivotally attached to said binder.

4. A book comprising a binder, a plurality of sheets forming the body of said book, and means for detachably fastening the latter to the former, said fastening means including a pronged member secured to and inwardly extending along the inner surface of the folding edge of said binder, and a spiral wire holder threaded through the binding edge of said sheets, adapted to be slipped over said pronged members by an endwise movement, at least one of said pronged members having its outer end pivotally attached to said binder.

ber secured to said binder at each end of the edge thereof, and holding means secured to the binding edge of said sheets adapted to interengage with said fastening members by an endwise movement, said fastening members inwardly extending towards each other, along the inner surface of the folding edge of said binder, at least one of said fastening members being pivotally attached to said binder, said holding means including ring shaped elements threaded through said sheets, allowing the same to lie fiat when turned from either extreme position to the other. 5

ADOLPHE BERNASCONI. 

